Posted on 01/28/2005 6:44:02 AM PST by Pikamax
School district cancels spelling bee RONALD R. BLAIS, Staff Reporter01/27/2005
LINCOLN -- Karen Adams always enjoyed receiving her invitation. The WPRI-TV news anchorwoman and Lincoln resident looked forward to penciling in the school district’s spelling bee in her appointment calendar.
But there’s no note in her calendar this year. The Lincoln district has decided to eliminate this year’s spelling bee -- a competition involving pupils in grades 4 through 8, with each school district winner advancing to the state competition and a chance to proceed to the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C.
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Through the years, it had become a tradition for Adams to pronounce and define spelling words used in the bee.
"It was just fun," she said last Monday from her office at the television studio.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Newman said the decision to scuttle the event was reached shortly after the January 2004 bee in a unanimous decision by herself and the district’s elementary school principals.
The administrators decided to eliminate the spelling bee, because they feel it runs afoul of the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
"No Child Left Behind says all kids must reach high standards," Newman said. "It’s our responsibility to find as many ways as possible to accomplish this."
The administrators agreed, Newman said, that a spelling bee doesn’t meet the criteria of all children reaching high standards -- because there can only be one winner, leaving all other students behind.
"It’s about one kid winning, several making it to the top and leaving all others behind. That’s contrary to No Child Left Behind," Newman said.
A spelling bee, she continued, is about "some kids being winners, some kids being losers."
As a result, the spelling bee "sends a message that this isn’t an all-kids movement," Newman said.
Furthermore, professional organizations now frown on competition at the elementary school level and are urging participation in activities that avoid winners, Newman said. That’s why there are no sports teams at the elementary level, she said as an example.
The emphasis today, she said, is on building self-esteem in all students.
"You have to build positive self-esteem for all kids, so they believe they’re all winners," she said. "You want to build positive self-esteem so that all kids can get to where they want to go."
A spelling bee only benefits a few, not all, students, the elementary principals and Newman agreed, so it was canceled.
While she concedes she’s not familiar with the specifics of No Child Left Behind, Adams, nevertheless, is befuddled by the school department’s decision.
"I don’t see where that (No Child Left Behind) has anything to do with a spelling bee. It was just a fun time," Adams said.
Winning a spelling bee, she added, "just meant you were a good speller."
One aspect she enjoyed about participating in her hometown spelling bee was the openness of the competition.
"It’s not always the straight "A" student who wins the spelling bee," she said.
A spelling bee also is a chance for children to shine before their peers, family and friends, Adams points out.
"It’s a big deal for the kids. It’s a nice recognition for them," she said.
Competing in a spelling bee is also a learning experience, the anchorwoman believes. "It was fun for the kids because it gave them poise and confidence to stand in front of a crowd."
Adams admits she’ll miss the bee.
"I just loved the kids. They were so cute. My heart broke every time a kid missed," she said. "I really enjoyed it."
Adams wasn’t the only one caught off guard by the spelling bee’s cancellation.
"I had no idea this (spelling bee) was called off," School Committee Chairman Jeff Weiss said last Friday.
The chairman reserved further comment until he could get more information. "I have no comment because I don’t know what’s going on," the chairman said.
Canceling the spelling bee is an administrative decision that doesn’t require School Committee approval, Newman said.
Karen Martin, whose daughter, Brianna, won last year’s bee, said she was surprised the bee had been eliminated, describing its cancellation as "strange."
Although her daughter was nervous, Martin believes it was a good experience for Brianna. "It was exciting to go to the state competition," the mother said.
Like Adams, Martin said she’ll miss the bee.
"I’m disappointed. I thought it was a fun activity," she said.
The administrators’ decision to eliminate the bee wasn’t a difficult one, Newman said.
"There was no debate at all. It was one of the easiest decisions," the assistant superintendent said because "there was no question among the administrators" that a spelling bee was "contrary to the expectations" of No Child Left Behind.
Only in the Peoples' Republic of New England could this happen.
Idiot blue-state education bureaucrats playing politics with childrens' education just to bash the President. Unbelievable.
The Onion and Scrappleface have announced that they are shutting down. In their joint press release they stated that "Reality is doing to good of job of satirizing itself. We just can't compete."
the robber (in Holland) successfully claiming the cost of his gun as a business expense
LOL! I missed that one, but there’s one that’s even funnier.
The robber kidnapped a guy at gunpoint, then when the cops had them surrounded, he threw his gun in the victim’s lap and told him, “Tell the cops it's your gun!"
Actually this was the emphasis in democratic run "equal outcome" programs, and is being countered by NCLB which emphasizes accountability and standardized testing. The school districts, sponsored by the teacher's unions are very opposed to NCLB, (even though Kenedy helped craft it) because of the accountability features. The standard approach of government organizations when they lose an issue is to take away something the public desires. In this case the spelling bee. (In other cases music and art programs are taken, or after school programs or sports programs, or recess). These teacher's union groups will take away everything having anything to do with enjoyment of education in order to promote their own selfish salary objectives or hide the results of their failed educational system.
NOW should be furious. Spelling is a subject where the girls kick the boys' butts.
"When we got here, the guy threw the gun in my lap," Schumacher said. The cops were all with shotguns. (The gunman) says, 'Tell the cops it's your gun.'"
A bank robber has been allowed to claim the £1,400 cost of the gun he used as a legitimate business expense.The 46-year-old criminal was able to set the price of the pistol against his gross proceeds of £4,700, which he stole in the southern Dutch town of Chaam.
Jailing him for four years, the judge at Breda criminal court reduced his fine by that amount.
The Dutch prosecutors' service said yesterday that the judge had followed sound legal precedents.
Leendert De Lange, a spokesman, said: "You can compare criminal acts to normal business activities, where you must invest to make profits, and thus you have costs."
Homeschooler performance in spelling bees? Here's 63,000 hits on Google for a rough start, anybody with more concise conclusions please ping me.
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=spelling+bee+competition&num=100&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=%22home+school%22+homeschool+homeschooled&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
Dumbing down, down, down, flush, swirl the bowl -- gone!! Nothing left but the Tidy Bowl man!
Can the left possibly get any more immature? They don't like the program, so they'll use the kids as bargaining chips against a policy and president they do not like.
Leftists. No sir, I don't like 'em.
Every school official should continue to hold his/her job and draw a paycheck, REGARDLESS of any competence to do the job in question.
They already do this. Take it from a former teacher.
An incompetent school teacher often has his/her license revoked. It can happen at any time. Take it from a CURRENT school teacher (whose license has not been revoked, but who has seen it happen).
They are simply taking the intent of NCLB and twisting it around to make a juvenile point. Kind of like when my 5 year old refuses to take a bath at night because earlier in the day I told her to stay out of the water.
Though I am a teacher and don't support no child's behind left (at least in current form), I don't support taking away things like spelling bees either. Healthy competition is good in class. In my first grade class, some of the lower ones have seen the big deal I make when my higher kids have hit a fourth or fifth grade level. This inspires them to get better and strive for a second grade level. I celebrate each child's accomplishments individually. I still don't stop my higher kids from achieving more though.
the public schools didn't want to acknowledge that a parent could actually teach his own child to spell.
Sure they do. Ask any teacher whose kids do well on spelling tests.
To: Pikamax
NOW should be furious. Spelling is a subject where the girls kick the boys' butts.
Good one.
Why is it called a spelling bee?
Perhaps it is for the same reason that "bee" is derived from the word(s) meaning word or speech:
01682 d@bowrah {deb-o-raw'} or (shortened) d@borah {deb-o-raw'}
from 01696 (in the sense of orderly motion); TWOT - 399f; n f
AV - bee 4; 4
1) bee
01696 dabar {daw-bar'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 399; v
AV - speak 840, say 118, talk 46, promise 31, tell 25, commune 20,
pronounce 14, utter 7, command 4 misc 38; 1143
1) to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing
1a) (Qal) to speak
1b) (Niphal) to speak with one another, talk
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to speak
1c2) to promise
1d) (Pual) to be spoken
1e) (Hithpael) to speak
1f) (Hiphil) to lead away, put to flight
***
01697 dabar {daw-baw'}
from 01696; TWOT - 399a; n m
AV - word 807, thing 231, matter 63, acts 51, chronicles 38,
saying 25, commandment 20, misc 204; 1439
1) speech, word, speaking, thing
1a) speech
1b) saying, utterance
1c) word, words
1d) business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner
(by extension)
No wonder Deborah was a prophetess. :-)
Typical Blue State idiocy.
Idiots. I - D - I - O - T - S. Idiots.
They already do this. Take it from a former teacher.
An incompetent school teacher often has his/her license revoked. It can happen at any time. Take it from a CURRENT school teacher (whose license has not been revoked, but who has seen it happen).
I was not really thinking of teachers as "school officials." I was commenting on administrators. And perhaps I should have identified myself as a retired teacher who never saw anyone removed for "incompetence."
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